Man nearly hired to work for Orlando church under investigation for child exploitation

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A man who was supposed to start working for an Orlando church is now under federal investigation for possible child exploitation.

Michael Wustrow, a music director from New York, accepted a position in Orlando but backed out before the Catholic Diocese of Orlando started looking into his past.

Before diocese brings a new employee into a parish it runs a background check.

“For that reason, I believe we catch things early on,” parishioner Frances Tomcabage said.

The precautionary step kept Wustrow from working in an Orlando church.

His Facebook page said he’s the co-director of music at St. Agnes Cathedral in New York.

But the diocese in that area posted a letter on its website saying

Wustrow is under federal investigation regarding possible charges of child exploitation.

The FBI seized his work computer and the diocese fired him.

Wustrow recently accepted a position at an Orlando church, pending a background check.

But the Orlando diocese says Wustrow withdrew his name before that happened.

"No matter what capacity we serve in, it could be something very incidental on various ministries in the church, but they all do the fingerprinting and the background checking," said Tomcabage.

The Orlando diocese won’t say which church Wustrow was expected to work for or in what capacity, but a spokesperson said the diocese would have no further comment on the matter.

Wustrow’s Facebook page shows he studied music education at Pennsylvania State University.

He "liked" pages for the Diocese of Orlando, St. James Catholic Church and other Central Florida organizations.

Tomcabage said the system setup in Central Florida to protect children worked.

"That was good that we found it out early on and we just have to pray for all these individuals, for them to find direction and peace,” he said.

Channel 9 reporter Lauren Seabrook messaged Wustrow and the church he used to work for but has not heard back.

Cox Media Group